A nonprofit group that provides medical services in the Miami area is pushing back against allegations in a lawsuit brought by a nurse practitioner who was hospitalized with COVID-19 due to what she said were life-threatening work situations.
Plaintiff Venise Jean-Baptiste filed the lawsuit Oct. 20 in the state's 11th Judicial Circuit against the Project Access Foundation Inc. and several medical personnel, alleging that Dr. Joseph Piperato purposefully breathed in Jean-Baptiste’s face after he allegedly attended a large party and then displayed coronavirus symptoms at her workplace.
In turn, she and her 2-year-old son contracted COVID-19, and she became seriously ill, the complaint states.
“As an asthmatic, she developed serious, life-threatening symptoms that required weeks of hospitalization,” the lawsuit says. “She suffered blood clots and pulmonary emboli, medical consequences that will last a lifetime. Because she was infected, her young child also became infected with the COVID-19 virus.”
The complaint also alleges that Jean-Baptiste’s workplace at Larkin Community Hospital denied her requests that she and staff members be allowed to wear masks to protect themselves from the virus. Nor were they allowed to access existing COVID-19 test kits, the lawsuit states.
And she was also allegedly told that staff members couldn’t be permitted to be tested because a positive test would lead the office to be shut down for two weeks, the complaint says.
Project Access strongly denies the charges in the lawsuit and will vigorously defend itself in court, according to attorney Julie Allison, whose firm represents Project Access and Dr. Piperato.
“Project Access implemented (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines in place during the alleged time frame to protect its employees and its patients, including temperature checks and symptom checks.” Allison told the Florida Record in an email. “Project Access provided personal protective equipment and training to all staff, according to CDC guidelines, including gowns and N-95 masks.”
In addition, the organization’s clinic was consistently sanitized according to federal government guidelines to prevent the spread of coronavirus, she said.
“Project Access has at all times undertaken the steps necessary to comply with CDC guidelines to protect the public and its patients during the COVID pandemic and will continue to strive to protect and serve its local community,” Allison said.
Jean-Baptiste is seeking damages greater than $30,000, in addition to interest, other associated costs and lawyer’s fees. This is to compensate for behavior that was indifferent to her safety and that led to her sustaining a permanent disability, the complaint says.